3/17/14

Thanks for the update on everyone.  It's good to know who I can keep in my prayers and help out to the best of my ability.  My mission president and wife is President and Sister Wilson and we are in the Richmond Stake.  We just had Stake conference this past weekend and it was awesome!  We had a broadcast and Elder L. Tom Perry got to speak to us as well as a member of the General Primary Presidency and a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.  All of them were very great talks! 

Our investigators are doing pretty good.  One of them just found out that she has a BYU channel and is SUPER excited about that!  She gave us the details of what the speakers were saying yesterday while she was on it!  She will be watching General Conference also!  It's weird to think that a year ago from the time that happens, we were in the Conference Center ourselves!

We also saw another investigator this week and talked about temples!  It was wonderful!  I love temples and miss them a lot.  For part of my studies this week I've been reading from the temple prep booklet and it's been very nice!  Another investigator has had a crazy week and we weren't able to meet with her and she wasn't able to come to church because of it.  Please pray for her, Satan is working very hard on her right now. 

I have not spoken lately and the last time I spoke in church was a brief testimony in November that I was asked to give.  I've learned a lot from my studies this past week.  I have learned how to make studies a lot more effective, for one, and I'm constantly studying from the Ensign daily and the Book of Mormon, and I'm getting a lot better at answering the questions found in PMG (Preach My Gospel) when studying that.  I find myself wanting a LOT more time for studies.  I've also been studying my Patriarchal Blessing more often.  I'm trying to read it every other day at the least, or whenever I have some free time.  It has been a very great week because of all these things.  I have never felt so close to the Savior, or Heavenly Father.  I've even put away pictures of everyone back home and just have pictures of the Savior out so I always know who I need to be focusing on and it works!  I've been listening to music a lot more too, even when I study I turn the volume down just enough so I can hear the hymns playing, but I'm still able to focus.  I don't think I've ever wanted to be more focused on the Lord's work than I am now.  I don't want to come home with regrets.  I've felt the joy that comes from doing missionary work, even when it feels you've had no success when you've gone out, you show the Lord that you're willing to do His will and that He can trust you with those He has prepared.  It's still hard to go out sometimes, but that's only because satan is there tempting you to not want to go out.  Once you do though, it's super easy to feel that happiness in the work.  You just have to have made the decision of what you're going to do before the time of action comes.  I believe that applies with everything we go through and every decision that we make.  If we want decisions to be made easier as well, then we just need to humbly pray to the Lord.  He's the only one who can help us through EVERYTHING that we go through.  I have definitely come to a sure knowledge of that this past week.  Humility is key to prayer.  It's been so hard for me to humble myself in the past and do that, but thanks to the encouragement and council of someone I respect very highly, the Spirit has worked on me time and time again.  I don't know how to explain it, but I've felt the Lord work on me once again and I can feel that great change.  It's so wonderful when we let the Lord enter our lives and let Him guide our every action!  This work is true and the Gospel we are living is true!  Nothing can tear it down, so let's hold onto it!

It is not currently warm.  Virginia is weird.  It was like in the 60's all last week and now it's back to winter this week and it's even snowing right now.  I'm tired of winter...We are staying warm though and eating well.  Thanks for the quote and I love you all!

-Elder Austin Mounts